The winner was Windsor’s Cabinetry in Greensboro, which also has an office in Shallotte that has installed cabinets in numerous homes in Brunswick County communities such as Seascape, Seawatch, St. James, River’s Edge and Holden and Ocean Isle beaches.

In fact, the Shallotte team’s work has been featured in three local award-winning homes in previous Brunswick County Parades of Homes.

On Oct. 9, the moon will get a new crater. The crater will not come from the normal source, such as a meteor hitting the surface. This time the crater will be an artificial depression.

The crater will be just a bit of cosmic surgery on the face of the old man in the moon, just below his chin.

The real reason for the new crater is to answer the age-old question: “Just how much water is on the moon?” The estimated quantity of water is believed to be 32 ounces per ton of top layer soil; equating to the driest Earth desert.

You can tie the landscape together with short, squat trees. Another problem commonly encountered when designing small spots is finding a way to provide low, space-conscious structure with trees that carry the bulk of their mass below eye level.

These trees are often important in tying together the landscape and connecting it to water features, garden art, and hardscaping. Their low visual center of gravity—typically from squat or weeping shapes­—makes this possible.

Early October marks the beginning of the season for an old southern garden favorite—camellia.

It blooms in shades of red, pink and white open on large, evergreen shrubs with glossy, dark-green foliage. The flowers you’re seeing now are what the locals call “sasanquas” or just the “fall camellias.”

Throughout the winter and into early spring, the common camellia (Camellia japonica) provides a show with blooms that are so perfect they could be computer-generated.

Years ago, my husband was given a piece of advice that was comforting and challenging. When he spoke of a family dilemma, a friend told him to pray for someone to cross his relative’s path. Pray for the emergence of a person who would effect a change that was beyond the family’s ability. He did. The person appeared. Change began.

Sammy (ID No. A011411) is a female, tricolor Catahoula Leopard Hound. The staff at Brunswick County Animal Shelter thinks she’s about two years old. She has been at the shelter since Sept. 8. The shelter’s adoption fees are based on age. Adoption fees for dogs are $65 for ages six months or older, and $46 for dogs five months old or younger. Fees include rabies shot, physical exam, heartworm test (for older dogs only) and spay or neuter. Female cats and kittens, $55; includes physical exam, feline leukemia/FIV (feline HIV) tests, rabies vaccination and spay surgery.

The casserole is not only the name of the dish, but also the name of the container in which it is cooked. When you combine a variety of foods, whether they are all vegetables or in combination with meats, and heat them in a broth or stock, you have actually created a casserole.

Casseroles vary from the typical cream sauce-based creations to quiches, to savory pies, to Shepherd’s pie and even breakfast and dessert casseroles.

She’s been a commercial airline pilot for more than 25 years, a Harley-Davidson biker for 40 years and recently made the move with her retired husband, Reggie, to their dream home in Lockwood Folly.

Now, she’s added “cancer survivor” to her list of accomplishments and says she has a “calling” to promote breast cancer awareness and fight the disease she was lucky enough to beat. On Nov. 14, she and her fellow bikers will take to the streets to benefit breast cancer research.